TUESDAY, MARCH 31
Psalm 42:11 Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.
When Trials Come
Every year at college homecoming, each class designed a float for the parade. It was in our junior year that many of us worked around the clock stuffing facial tissues into chicken wire frames to flesh out a design of a huge cauldron out of which flowed a large fiery stream. Illustrating the way in which a treasure was produced, it was quite dramatic, and I never realized then, how that image and the words connected to it would often come to mind. Written on the float was this text from Job 23:10, “When tried, I shall come forth as gold,” and we’re pretty familiar with what trials Job faced.
Now there’s no way I have had to endure Job’s experiences, but over the years, there have been different challenges to face – financial, professional demands and changes, illnesses, calls to serve in new capacities – all of which have created tensions and unnerving insecurity. It was in the depths of those moments of overwhelming heartache or even the despair of “How in the world did I get myself into this?” and “Oh, God, help!” that the memory of that verse would come to mind. It became the Spirit’s guidance for my day. Those words during a time of feeling pretty helpless were a comfort. The message acknowledged that there were hard days, but somehow, I was going to get through them and whatever had to be corrected would be “refined.”
God was definitely there getting me through those “demons of the night... and of the day,” calling on the hidden strengths God had implanted, pushing and pulling me to grow or to help others. It wasn’t easy going through the heat of those trials. God has been and is still there, continuing to support and nudge me to another place where God’s love and nurture has been and continues to be an immense blessing.
Prayer: O Lord, Help us to remember that you are always there to share in our joys and trials, to uphold us with your strength, and to comfort us with your love as you walk beside us on the path of life. Amen.
Swid Kirchhofer
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